The mirror crack'd: Why physics is lopsided

Forget symmetry, it's asymmetry that could be the key to life, the universe and almost everything

SYMMETRY is deeply satisfying. It has harmony and balance – it feels right. But while physicists use it as a guide in building theories, nature is more often lopsided than manifestly symmetric. Asymmetries are often far more informative. Trying to understand why a particular asymmetry exists can reveal clues about the profound nature of reality. That's exactly what Peter Higgs and François Englert were doing 50 years ago when they came up with what's now known as the Higgs mechanism, which imparts mass to fundamental particles. In October last year, their efforts were rewarded when they shared the Nobel prize in physics.

Sometimes symmetry itself springs from asymmetry. We are made of atoms, which are held together by the attraction of opposite electrical ...

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